


How Would You Feel? (If I Told You I Loved You)

by damerey_knows



Series: Damerey One Shots 2018 [8]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Cannon au, F/M, Post TLJ, Sick Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 18:50:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16046453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damerey_knows/pseuds/damerey_knows
Summary: Prompt: Person A is taking care of a very feverish Person B. Person B begins to confess (their love, a dark secret, etc.) to Person A.





	How Would You Feel? (If I Told You I Loved You)

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I've done a one-shot. And since my last sick!fic had Nurse!Poe and Sick!Rey, I thought I would do one where Rey gets to nurse Poe back to health. 
> 
> Fair warning: I wrote most of this at like 2am, so I will probably edit it later  
> Title from the Ed Sheeran song _How would you feel (Paean)_. 
> 
> Enjoy <3

Poe looked like death warmed over. Rey hadn't known what to do when BB-8 had rolled into her bunk in a panic, screeching something about [Friend Rey, Hurry quick!] before knocking into her knees and racing out the door again. Rey had followed quickly to find Poe collapsed on the ground in front of his bed, his shoes half pulled off and a cold sweat breaking out over his face.

Rey hadn’t known what was wrong with him, she’d sent BB-8 to summon a medical droid while she’d gotten Poe situated in bed. The droid had surmised that Poe had picked up a flu on his last off world mission; and had concluded that the best thing for him after the initial medication was to sweat it out.

Rey stayed with him, partly because she was worried, partly because Poe had asked. She was slowly coming around to the idea that she very much liked Poe, in a different way than she liked Finn. She liked when he made her laugh with his weird jokes, and she liked the easy smiles he wore when they were teasing Finn about his aversion to Koyo melons, a delicacy that Rey was crazy about. She liked the way he led his team, and she liked the way he treated BB-8. It hurt her to see him suffering through this fever.

Sighing she reached up to change the cold cloth from his forehead, allowing some of the cool water to drip onto his chest.

“Hmmm,” Poe hummed. “Feels nice,” he mumbled, not opening his eyes, his voice still hoarse. His fever had broken a few hours ago, but he was still not back to normal.

BB-8 trilled softly, asking about Poe’s progress. “I think he’s getting better, Bee,” Rey said, quietly, trying not to disturb Poe any further as she straightened the blankets around him. “We’ll just have to wait a little longer.”

BB-8 warbled a longer question and Rey laughed.

“Yes, I think R2 can tell you stories about General Organa and Lieutenant Bey. But, if it’s busy don’t bother it, okay?”

BB-8 whistled and wobbled happily before looking back at Poe quietly. “Don’t worry about him,” Rey said, kindly. “I’ll look after him for you.”

BB-8 looked at her for a long moment, then back at Poe, then back at her. [Master Poe likes you very much]

Rey blinked before smiling down at the droid. “I like him too, BB.”

BB-8 looked at Poe again before turning to Rey and whistling, [Master Poe said that you should have the ring]

“What?” Rey asked, staring down at the droid, perplexed. “What ring?” The words were barely out of her mouth when BB-8 turned sharply and raced out of the room, whistling cheerfully as it went to find R2-D2.

“Rey?” She heard Poe grumble behind her. 

“I’m here,” she said, reaching to take his fumbling fingers. “Did you need something?” 

Poe smiled and squeezed her hand. “No, you’re here. That’s nice,” he said, his voice slightly slurred. 

Rey smiled, running her free hand over his warm forehead. “Poe?” she asked

“Mhm.”

“What did BB-8 mean? It said you wanted to give me a ring...?” she trailed off, unsure of her question. 

Poe’s face broke into a smile. “My mom’s ring.” His words were clear, even if his eyes were beginning to flutter closed, sleep pulling at him. “She told me to give it to someone I loved more than anything.” 

“But-” Rey was interrupted by Poe’s mutter. 

“When I wake up I’m going to find you and tell you I love you for real.” 

Rey’s heart beat hard twice. He loved her? Did Poe even know she was here? Did he think she was a fever dream? 

His grip on her hand went slack as his exhaustion pulled him under again. Rey sat up, staring at him. 

She didn’t know how to be in love, she was just beginning to feel normal around Finn and Rose. She didn’t know how to feel about someone like Poe telling her they loved her. She wasn’t anybody, she was just a scavenger from an outer rim planet that no one wanted to go to. 

Rey pulled her comm unit out and radioed Finn. “Hey, are you free?” 

It took a minute before Finn’s voice crackled through the comm. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“Can you come and watch Poe for a little while?” Rey asked, hating herself already for hiding this from Finn. “I have some stuff I need to do today.” 

“Be there in a few minutes.” 

Rey let out a breath. She was leaving Poe in Finn’s capable hands, it wasn’t like she was leaving him. And she did need to finish fixing the shield deflectors on the Falcon, which she’d promised Chewy she’d finish. 

When Finn arrived, she tried very hard to seem as normal as possible, she still felt on edge. Finn didn’t seem to notice as he smiled at her and sat down at Poe’s desk, checking over some reports on his datapad. 

Rey managed to wait till the door to Poe’s quarters hissed closed before breaking into a jog, heading towards the hangar. She found a small storage closet just before she reached the hangar and ducked inside. As weird as it may seem, she missed the confines of her AT-AT back on Jakku. Even when she was alone, it was a safe space, a place she could rest for a little while. 

Sitting down behind a box of rations, Rey put her head on her knees. She sat there for a while before sitting up straighter. Breathing deeply, Rey tried to meditate, stretching out her consciousness into the Force, feeling around for all of her friends. 

She could feel Rose arguing with C-3P0 from the depths of an X-Wing. Jess Pava was sitting laughing with Snap and the other pilots from Poe’s squadron in the mess hall. She could feel the water of the nearby river here on Akiva gushing through the trees some hundred meters away. Rey marveled at the sheer amount of water that just moved along here. Not squabbled over like it would have been on Jakku. She liked to hear the roar, the ebb and flow, the animals stopping to drink from the riverbanks. It lulled her further into her trance. She could feel all the things that she’d felt on Ahch-To when she’d meditated with Luke, but here it felt different, somehow more and less powerful at the same time. 

Without meaning to, her consciousness reached out and touched Poe’s. He was still sleeping, but Rey could tell that this sleep was less troubled than before. His signature in the Force was not as murky with sickness. He was healing. 

She breathed in and out deeply. Focusing on the gentle pulse of his heartbeats. 

Rey didn’t know how long she sat there before meditation became napping, but she found herself being woken by a curious BB-8, who had apparently come to find her. 

[Friend Rey said she would stay with Master Poe], it warbled at her, concerned. [Is Friend Rey becoming ill like Master Poe?] 

“No, BB, I’m fine,” she said, sitting up and rolling the muscles in her shoulders. “I just needed to meditate for a bit.” 

[Friend Finn said you’ve been gone since 2130].

Rey looked at the droid in confusion. “What time is it?” she asked.

[0758], BB-8 chirped, clearly concerned that Rey was becoming sick, too. 

“I’m fine, BB-8, really,” Rey said, patting the droid’s head as she stood up. “I’d better go and see if Chewy finally fixed that glitch in the Falcon’s main databanks.”

[Master Poe is awake], BB-8 whistled. [He said some funny things]. 

“I’m sure he did, BB,” Rey said. “People say a lot of funny things when they’re sick.” 

[But Master Poe said-] BB-8 cut itself off, staring at her, clearly re-evaluating what it was going to tell her. [Master Poe said he wanted to see you]. 

Rey sighed. “I know BB, but I really need to get some work done. I’ll check in on him again later on, but can you keep me informed if he gets worse?” 

BB-8 whistled an affirmative before Rey swept out of the closet and headed to the hangar, trying to focus on the repairs she needed to make on her ship and not on dark haired pilots. 

* * *

Poe woke to see Finn slumped in his chair, datapad hanging from one hand, the other propping his head up on the desk. 

“Finn,” he rasped, his throat still scratchy but not from the illness anymore. 

Finn startled, dropping the datapad as he looked over at Poe. “Hey,” he said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “How’re you feeling?” 

“Like crap,” Poe managed. “Do you have water?” 

Finn stood and handed him a canteen, before taking his hand and helping him to sit up against the wall above his bed. 

After a long pull from the canteen Poe could feel his voice returning to him. “How long have I been out?” 

“Oh, about twenty-seven hours,” Finn said absently, looking at the chrono on his wrist. 

“What?” Poe yelped, then winced as his head throbbed. 

“Buddy,” Finn said consolingly. “Rey found you passed out on the ground, you needed the rest.” 

Poe relaxed for a moment. “Rey was here?” he asked. 

Finn nodded. “Yeah, she was here a while ago, but she had to step out for something. Maybe she went to get some sleep.” 

Poe nodded absently. He had a vague memory of a dream he’d had. Something about Rey and his mother’s ring.

“Here,” Finn said, handing him a couple of pills. “Take these, and you should be right as rain.”

Poe took the medicine and leaned back against the wall, trying to remember, trying to discern reality from his dreams. 

* * *

Poe was feeling much better after two days and decided to go to eat in the mess hall. It was amazing what a good shower could do for a person’s health. 

Poe had also been hoping to catch sight of Rey in the mess. She hadn’t returned after Finn had given him his last dose of medicine, and he felt off. He wasn’t sure why, something about Rey’s absence bothered him. 

BB-8 whistled at his heels as they walked, jabbering on about a story about General Organa from the Battle of Yavin. 

Poe smiled down at his droid fondly. A sudden movement down the hall caught his eye. He looked up to see the edge of Rey's tunic disappear around a bend in the corridor. 

[Friend Rey has been acting very strange], BB-8 whistled as they walked in the direction Rey had gone.

“What do you mean?”

BB-8 wobbled back and forth, uncertainly.

“BB-8, what did you do?”

BB-8 let out a long warble. [I told Friend Rey about Shara’s ring]. 

“What?” Poe asked, stopping abruptly in the middle of the corridor. “BB-8, why did you do that?” 

BB-8 looked up at him. [Did you not want me to tell her? You were very adamant on our last mission that if something happened to you I should give her the ring]. 

Poe scrubbed a hand over his eyes. His little droid would be the death of him. 

Breaking into a jog, Poe rounded the corner and headed towards the mess. Rey wasn't there. He tried the Falcon in the Hangar, General Organa's office, and her bunk. No one seemed to know where Rey was.

Sighing, Poe leaned against the corridor wall. Was she avoiding him? That was the only answer he could come up with. BB-8 had said something to her about the ring and Rey now felt awkward being around him. “Dammit,” he cursed under his breath. He’d been so sure he’d mess up whatever was between them himself that he hadn’t even considered the idea that his droid could do that for him. 

Pushing off the wall, he walked down the hall, so lost in thought he almost didn’t notice when he bumped into Rey herself. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said distractedly as she looked up at him. “Oh, hi, Poe.” 

“Hi,” he said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. 

“Umm, I’d better...” Rey trailed off, blushing as she tried to walk around him. 

“Wait,” Poe said quickly, reaching out to catch her wrist. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Rey nodded and allowed him to pull her into an empty meeting room. She stood there under the fluorescent lights and Poe swallowed his tongue, like he usually did around her. 

“I just wanted to say-” Poe broke off, clearing his throat. “I just wanted to say, thank you, for looking out for me when I was sick.” 

Rey’s smile was gentle. “Well I couldn't just leave you there.”

Poe chuckled, digging his hands into his pockets. “Look-” he started just as Rey said, “I just-”

They both broke off, a shy smile playing on Rey's face as she gestured for him to go. 

Poe smiled at her. “I don't know what BB-8 said to you when I was sick, but I hope it doesn't make things awkward between us.”

Rey's smile seemed to grow sad. “I don't mind.”

“Really? Cause it kinda feels like you're avoiding me.” Poe's voice came out in almost a whisper. “Did something happen?”

Rey shook her head. “No,” she said, preferring to speak to his boots than meet his eyes.

“BB-8 told me he said something to you about my ring…” he asked. 

Rey's face flushed, her hand coming up to brush a strand of hair behind her ear.

Poe waited for a long moment, waiting for her to say something. It was unusual for Rey to be this shy. She was usually so bold.  _ What did you say to her, BB? _

“BB- BB said you told it that you were going to give me a ring and when I asked you what ring, you said it was your mother's and that she'd told you to give it to someone…” she trailed off there, staring at his boots again, her fingers twisting nervously in front of her. 

Poe started at her for a long moment. He knew what he'd said now, even if he couldn't remember it. He knew he'd told her that he loved her, this beautiful, strong woman. He must have thought he'd been hallucinating. “I'm sorry, Rey, I'm sorry if I made you feel like… if I ruined-”

“Did you mean it?” Her voice was barely a whisper, her eyes finally meeting his, looking at him as if she could see right right through to his core.

“Yes,” he breathed, not taking his eyes from hers.

Rey's smile was bright, her blush deepening. “I…”

“You don't have to say anything back,” Poe said hastily, wanting to fix whatever his fever brain had done.

Rey reached out one hand to take his. “I really like you too, Poe, but I… I've never,” she paused to take a deep breath. “I've never liked anyone like that before. I don't know how to…”

“It's okay,” Poe said, trying not to give away how hard his heart was beating. “You don't have to do anything you don't want to.” 

Rey's eyes sharpened, “But I do, I do want to,” she insisted. “I just might not be very good at any of this.” She pulled her hand away from his wrist and wrapped it around herself. 

“Hey,” Poe said, reaching forward to hold her shoulders, he could feel his smile stretching across his cheeks. “We can both be not good at it together, if you want.” 

Rey looked up at him and nodded. “Can I kiss you?” she asked timidly. 

Poe's smile felt like it had permanently fixed itself to his cheeks. “I would love to, but” he could see the uncertainty flickering in her eyes again. “I might still be contagious, Sunshine. Let's give it a few more days. Trust me, you do not want to get sick with this stupid bug.”

Rey laughed and wrapped her arms around his torso, tucking her nose into his neck. “Okay, Flyboy,” she said. “That sounds good to me.”

Poe hugged her to his chest, smiling into her hair. 

Just then the door hissed open and Poe heard an excited trill and a laugh. 

Pulling back from Rey slightly, he turned to see Finn and BB-8 in the doorway. 

“Finally!” Finn said through his laughter as BB-8 whirred and spun around their ankles, jabbering too fast for him to catch. 

Rey buried her face in Poe’s chest and when Poe looked down at her he could see her flush on the back of her neck and her ears. His smile was still fixed to his face as he leaned down to press a kiss into her hair. _I can manage a couple of days without kissing her, I'm sure I can..._

**Author's Note:**

> So tell me what you thought :)  
> Also, I need some more inspiration, if anyone wants to send me prompts you can submit them [here :D](http://supremequeenofthenerds.tumblr.com/ask)  
> \- Jumana


End file.
